The present invention relates to data processing systems, and more specifically, to data processing systems that send and receive electronic messages.
Electronic mail (e-mail) tracking is a method for monitoring delivery of e-mails to intended recipients. Most e-mail tracking technologies use a time-stamped record which indicates the exact time and date that an email was received or opened, as well the IP address of the recipient. E-mail tracking is a useful way for senders of e-mail to know whether intended recipients of e-mail actually received and/or opened the e-mail.
Typically, to activate e-mail tracking, a sender of an e-mail can select one or more menu items presented in an e-mail client application used to generate the e-mail. For example, before sending an e-mail, the sender can select a menu item to request a delivery receipt and/or select a menu item to request a read receipt. Such requests can be processed by an e-mail server and/or e-mail client used by the e-mail recipient to generate the receipts and communicate the receipts to the e-mail sender.